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John Mellencamp reinvents himself on this self-titled album as a fresh start on a new label after spending 20 years signed to Mercury Records. Like his last record MR. HAPPY-GO-LUCKY, Mellencamp's musical wanderlust has led him beyond the standard instrumental lineup of guitar, bass & drums. The carefree "I'm Not Running Anymore" finds him using vocal and rhythmic loops whereas the lo-fi aesthetics and hip-hop vocals of "Break Me Off Some" bring to mind Beck's sensibilities crossed with the Mitchell Froom/Tchad Blake production techniques usually employed by Los Lobos.Befitting the elder statesmanhood worn by this cantankerous Hoosier, the topics he writes about go beyond the girl-meets-boy scenarios of his youth. Some of the personal and biblical imagery Mellencamp deals with includes raising children ("Your Life Is Now"), our collective origins ("Where The World Began"), karmic philosophy ("It All Comes True") and a fictional argument between Cain and Abel ("Fruit Trader"). Pretty heady stuff coming from the gritty and uncompromising package that is John Mellencamp.